BUFFALO, N.Y. - In a back and forth battle, including four third-period goals, the New Jersey Devils fell in a shootout 4-3. Buffalo Captain Jack Eichel scored in the first overtime round to win the shootout. The Devils picked up one point in the loss.
"You look at some of the big opportunities we had, we had great scoring opportunities," said Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff following the loss. "We generated a lot of high quality opportunities, and the common theme through these first games is we missed too many good opportunities."
Devils defenseman Ty Smith continued his strong start in his rookie season with a power play goal. The late second period goal was his second of the season and seventh point so far in 2021. Andreas Johnsson also scored for the Devils, his first with this season with New Jersey.
"I feel like I've been creating a lot of chances the last couple of games so it was nice to see that go in," said Johnsson and his first goal with New Jersey. "New team...at least when you get a couple opportunities you know you're gonna eventually get one."
Janne Kuokkanen scored his first NHL goal in the third period to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime.
"I felt really good, and I think we've been struggling lately with scoring so I'm really happy that I was able to help the team," said Kuokkanen following the game. "It's a really good line, I like to play with [Bastian] and [McLeod]. They're really hard working guys and they keep it simple," said Kuokkanen on the chemistry with his linemates today.
Eric Staal, Tobias Rieder, and Victor Oloffsson scored for the Sabres Saturday afternoon. Former Devils forward Taylor Hall had the primary assist on Staal's opening goal and the secondary assist on the game winner.
The Devils were slow to start the first period. Buffalo came out fast with a lot of control in the offensive end, putting pressure on New Jersey early. Seven minutes in, both teams saw their first special teams action of the day. Andreas Johnsson was called for interference on former Devils forward Taylor Hall, and Johnsson's penalty sent New Jersey on their first penalty kill. The penalty kill came up strong and prevented the Sabres from opening the scoring. In addition, Wedgewood had a handful of big saves to keep the score tied at 0.
With 7:45 left in the first period, the Sabres were called with two penalties which gave the Devils a 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes. New Jersey kept possession in the offensive zone until the final 25 seconds of the power play, and although they were moving the puck well, they were unable to score.
However, following their two-man advantage, the team saw their strongest period of offense. The team saw several close shots including one by Nikita Gusev in the final two minutes of the period. Gusev tried to go five-hole on Buffalo goaltender Linus Ullmark, however, the home goaltender came up with a big save.
With two seconds left in the first period, the Devils had an offensive zone face-off, in which they pulled goaltender Scott Wedgewood. They won the face-off, however's P.K. Subban's shot on goal went high right and Ullmark made the save. After the first period, Buffalo outshot New Jersey 7-6 and the score remained 0-0.
Less than a minute into the second period, Andreas Johnsson got his second penalty of the game, this time holding and was sent to the box for a minor penalty. Like their first time this game, the Devils penalty kill came up strong and limited Buffalo to one shot on goal during their man-advantage. In addition to the strong defensive play, Zacha and Kyle Palmieri brought the puck down shorthanded and Zacha had a shot on goal.
Following the kill, the Devils had their strongest 5-on-5 play shift of the game at this point. Jack Hughes was a key part of the strong play. In addition, the Devils had two close shots on goal, including one that hit the crossbar.
With 16:02 on the clock, Miles Wood was sent to the box for slashing. The Devils penalty kill had their third call of the game. Wedgewood came up huge twice in the penalty to help kill off the man-advantage. Halfway through the game, the Devils killed off three straight penalties.
Eric Staal opened the scoring for Buffalo with 10:57 on the clock. Staal came in with space and scored on Wedgewood's blocker side to make it 1-0 Sabres. Hall and Montour received assists on the goal.
With 7:55 left in the second period, the Devils had their third power play of the game. Hall was called for holding and sent to the box. Subban had a strong shot right at the start of the man-advantage and later on set up Zacha for a shot. Gusev had a solid shot on goal in the final 45 seconds of the power play period. Severson followed with a shot of his own that made it through traffic but Palmieri was unable to redirect right on the doorstep. After two minutes of a man-advantage, the Devils were unable to score but saw an increase in shots during the power play.
In the final two minutes of the second period, Buffalo's Staal is called for hooking and the Devils head to the power play. 20 seconds in, Ty Smith's shot from the point power soared past Ullmark to tie the game. The 1-1 score would hold in the final minute of the period. The Sabres continued to outshoot the Devils in the second period and after 40 minutes had a 21-17 shot advantage.
Video: NJD@BUF: Smith nets PPG to tie game at 1
Andreas Johnsson scored his first as a New Jersey Devil less than two minutes into the third period to make it 2-1 Devils. Hughes entered the zone, found Johnsson cross-ice, and Johnsson shot top right corner to score.
Video: NJD@BUF: Johnsson scores in 3rd period
The Devils first lead of the afternoon only lasted forty seconds as Buffalo's Tobias Rieder scored to tie the game. Rieder got a quick pass from Eakin and buried his wrist shot.
Seconds later, Jack Hughes came inches from taking back the lead. The shot bounced off Ullmark but did not cross the goal line. Right at the whistle of the play, Buffalo is called for delaying the game and the Devils went to the power play for the fifth time. The Devils saw several solid chances, including from Subban and Hughes, but the Devils were unable to score to get their third of the game.
Just under ten minutes left in regulation, the Devils went on the penalty kill when Ty Smith was called for Hooking. 34 seconds into the man advantage, Buffalo's Victor Oloffsson scored from the left face-off circle. Wedgewood was screened during the play which took away his sight lines.
Janne Kuokkanen tied the game at 3-3 with five minutes left, when he bounced his shot off the side of Ullmark. The goal was Kuokkanen's first National Hockey League goal and second career NHL point. McLeod and Bastian had the assists on the tying tally.
Video: NJD@BUF: Kuokkanen scores in 3rd period
With 1:52 left in the third period, Damon Severson was called for tripping and the Devils penalty kill went back to work. The Devils kept the Sabres from scoring in the final minutes of the third period, and the game went to overtime.
New Jersey killed off the remaining eight seconds of the late third period penalty at the start of the five minute overtime period. Hughes had a close chance when he hit the post just 50 seconds into the additional period. Jesper Bratt lost the puck on a breakaway in the final minute and change of overtime and then Taylor Hall misses the net on a chance seconds later.
Neither team managed to score in the five-minute overtime period and the game went to a shootout, tied at 3. Buffalo went first on the shootout with Captain Jack Eichel who scored. Bratt went first for the Devils and was stopped. Both second round shooters were stopped including Gusev for the Devils. Both shooters were stopped in the third round which gave Buffalo the 4-3 SO win.
In the Saturday afternoon game, both teams had five power play opportunities and scored on one.
"We did a good job with the penalty kill. We allowed one but had one on the power play so the special teams battle was even," said Damon Severson on the team's special teams performance tonight.
"Penatly killing was great," said Ruff. "I think we worked hard to kill them off, thought we had some great blocks. You look at the Kulikov block, Bastian had a big block. The desparation was there. We've been working hard at it, I think we're starting to get paid some dividends and we're just going to continue to work at it."
Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced, including two of the three shootout attempts.
The Devils will play the Sabres Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET before heading to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins in another two-game road series.
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January 31, 2021 at 03:47AM
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GAME STORY: Sabres 4, Devils 3 (SO) - New Jersey Devils
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